William Friedkin To Receive Special Venice Golden Lion; Restored ‘Sorcerer’ To World Premiere At Festival

Veteran French Connection and Exorcist helmer William Friedkin will receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival later this year. Friedkin has a history with the festival where his 1995 thriller Jade appeared in the Notti Veneziane section. More recently, the gritty Killer Joe ran in competition in 2011. At the 70th edition of Venice this year (August 28-September 7), he’ll present the world premiere of a Warner Bros restoration of the 1977 film Sorcerer, his take on Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Wages Of Fear that starred Roy Scheider. “I consider Sorcerer my most personal film and the most difficult to achieve. To realize that it’s going to have a new life in cinema is something for which I’m deeply grateful,” the director said. Venice chief Alberto Barbera praised Friedkin, saying he “has contributed in a prominent way — the revolutionary impact of which has not always been recognized — to the profound renewal of American cinema regarded as ‘the New Hollywood’.”